Botulinum toxin in painful diseases

The exceptionally successful history of botulinum toxin and its likely future has hardly an equivalent. Initially, it was used in strabismus, blepharospasm and hemifacial spasm, later also in focal dystonia and spasticity and it has been shown to effectively treat wrinkles, hyperhidrosis and a great number of ensuing indications. By treating symptoms or disorders associated with pain, its analgesic effect was first noticed. The efficacy and reasons for this side effect have since been investigated and a number of models explaining the mode of action have been presented. However, even if we know that botulinum toxin undoubtedly helps in certain pain syndromes, there is still much work to do to identify the major ones, define the optimum dose and the preferred site of injection. Indicating current positions and kindling the growing interest in this extraordinary therapeutic agent this book presents a timely overview on pain management with botulinum toxin. Thus, it will be of great interest especially for anesthesiologists and neurologists in their clinical work and medical research.